Advanced prison management in Kansas

If there isn't enough contraband in your prison all you have to do is make something scarce. Toilet paper would work.

Toilet paper is becoming a sought after commodity at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility after officials began limiting inmates to one roll at a time to trim costs.


Officials say the prison has long had a limit, but they learned recently that it hadn't been enforced. Increased enforcement began this month.


Under the prison policy, inmates are restricted to four rolls of toilet paper each month or on an "as-needed" basis.


Steve Schneider, public information officer for the prison, said officials also restated restrictions on other personal items, including soap and toothpaste, as a result of stockpiling and overuse.


The increased enforcement has angered many of the more than 1,600 inmates housed at the facility.


"Some take this for granted," inmate Carl Kennedy said in a letter to The Hutchinson News. "But in here it's part of a safeguard for widespread infections. We use it to blow our noses, clean sinks, toilets and tables."


Prison officials said the policy could save the prison nearly $600 each month if each inmate uses one less roll each month.

Even if they do save $600 in toilet paper costs, somehow I think this will end up costing them more than just the cost of toilet paper. Forest. Trees. Look.